The present invention relates generally to a device for cleaning dirt, mud, snow, sand, rocks, and other debris from the tracks of a track-driven vehicle, substantially continuously, while the vehicle is in use. Track-driven vehicles are known to the art for use in a variety of applications. Common track-driven vehicles include skid steers, loaders, backhoes, tractors, roadworks machines, snow machines, bulldozers, and military vehicles.
One advantage of track-driven vehicles compared to wheeled vehicles is that the tracks distribute the weight of the vehicle over a substantially larger surface area than pneumatic tires. As a result, track-driven vehicles enjoy substantially better traction in off-road conditions such as dirt, mud, snow, sand, or rocky terrain than wheeled vehicles using pneumatic tires. This is especially true for vehicles with a high overall weight or vehicles that are intended to push, pull, or haul heavy weight off-road, where track drive becomes particularly advantageous. Vehicles that are purpose-built for heavy operation off-road, such as, for example, bulldozers and snow machines, generally employ a track drive to take advantage of the superior traction characteristics and weight distribution.
Track-driven vehicles are, however, not without disadvantages. The tracks of track drives are generally in a belt-like configuration, and can be passively driven or can be active. Tracks often include a plurality of ridges or protrusions to improve traction. In some conditions, such as loose dirt, mud, sand, snow, or loose gravel or rock, the track can become dirty and clogged. For illustrative example, a bulldozer operating in mud may in certain conditions see its track become packed with mud such that the mud fills up the entirety of each of the spaces between the track's traction ridges. Until the mud is cleaned from the track the mud creates an effectively flat, smooth, slippery track surface instead of a ridged or contoured one. This dramatically reduces vehicle traction and can result in the track-driven vehicle becoming stuck or unable to push, pull, or haul as desired.
It is known to the art to overcome this problem by stopping the vehicle and manually cleaning the tracks. This is a time consuming solution. Moreover, the tracks generally quickly become clogged again with continued use, requiring the user to again stop and engage in a time-consuming track-cleaning task. Repeatedly manually cleaning the tracks renders many intended uses of the vehicle impractical, as the user would spend more time cleaning the tracks than performing the intended task. Another solution known to the art is in increase the width of the track, increasing its surface area and thus its traction capabilities so that the tracks provide the desired performance even when clogged with dirt, mud, snow, sand, rocks, or other debris. This solution typically requires replacement of either the tracks or the whole track-drive system of the vehicle, or, in some cases, replacement of the entire vehicle. In all cases this solution imposes meaningful cost and inconvenience on the user.
What is needed is a means to clean dirt, mud, snow, sand, rocks, or other debris from the tracks of a track-driven vehicle sufficiently to restore traction while the vehicle is in use in dirty, muddy, snowy, sandy, rocky, or other potentially clogging conditions, without requiring the user to stop the vehicle to perform a cleaning operation and without requiring the purchase of a vehicle with wider tracks.